Target: New York Senator Patty Ritchie and IowaHouse and Senate Agriculture Committees.

Goal: Urge state legislatures in New York and Iowa to oppose new bills that will make it a crime to expose farm animal cruelty and unsanitary conditions.

Animal rights workers and investigative reporters visit farms throughout the country to ensure the animals are healthy and safe. This has lead to the exposing of inhumane farms and slaughterhouses, some of whom face legal issues or get shut down. Now businesses are trying to make such investigations illegal to hide the conditions of their farms from the public.

The bills state that taking photos or videos of such farms will result in a misdemeanor offense punishable by up to a year in prison or a fine of up to $1,000. This is the same punishment for unimaginable crimes of animal cruelty, such as dog fighting or torturing an animal.

This is happening in New York and Iowa, and will surely begin to surfaces in other states as well. Industrial farms view their animals as profit, and the treatment they receive before they are killed for food and material purposes becomes irrelevant to them. Fortunately there are people who care about the conditions of these animals, regardless of whether they will soon face their fate in the slaughterhouse. These farms and businesses don’t want to be bothered with regulations and abiding by sanitary health conditions, so they are trying to legally get rid of any investigations- they are hiding the evidence.

Not only is it important that organizations are able to look into farms to protect the welfare of the animals, it is important for such farms to be exposed for the sake of the people. These investigations have exposed farms where cows are dragged through their own bodily fluids, including feces and pregnancy substances. These animals, including cows, pigs, chickens, and goats, are not fed the proper diet and are extremely susceptible to disease. These are the meat and diary products that the public will soon be consuming, without any idea of the risks.

It is crucial, for the sake of animals and the people who consume these products, that organizations are able to investigate and regulate these farms. It is clear the only reason these businesses are attempting to make this illegal is to hide something from the public, something that would affect their sales or profit. Prohibiting the investigation of industrials farms is unfair to the animals, to the public, and to the farms who make the time and effort to ensure sanitary conditions and humane treatment.

PETITION LETTER:

Dear New York Senator Patty Ritchie and the IowaHouse and Senate Agriculture Committees,

I urge you not to support the bills of Iowa and New York which will make it illegal to photograph or videotape the conditions of industrial farms and their animals. It is clear that such a law is meant to hide important information from the public, which is completely wrong.

The people deserve to know what goes on behind the walls of the farms that provide them their meat and dairy. Even more importantly the animals deserve to be protected. The law should not allow businesses to clearly hide cruel treatment of animals and unsanitary conditions by prohibiting any evidence. There are plenty of industrial farms who follow health regulations and treat their animals as well as they can under the circumstances. The businesses and farms who refuse to do this should not be able to hide behind ridiculous laws.

In order to protect the animals of industrial farms and to protect the people who consume the products, individuals and organizations, whether they be animal rights or agriculture, should be allowed to use photos or videos to investigate. It is concerning that any congressman would approve of such a bill that is clearly meant to hide evidence and information from the people. I ask that you oppose this pending bill and stop allowing businesses to bring harm and danger to innocent animals and people.

Sincerely,

[Your Name Goes Here]

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It should be mandatory for all meat-eating people to watch how that animals’s life is taken away from it. Then let them decide if they still want to eat that lifeless body. Of course, this will never happen because these factory animal farms are too powerful with the help of some politicians.

The picture of pigs being hung alive on sharp meat hooks awaiting their deaths is appalling…this is so barbaric and inhumane, I can hardly speak. These poor animals should not be left to suffer this way. Surely there can be a humane way of doing this. I am utterly disgusted by this carnage.